Traditional steam or more modern hot water boiler systems, commonly known as hydronic heating systems, typically provide heating to large buildings by pumping heated water through a network of pipes. The temperature of the water pumped throughout the building for the most part maintains a desired temperature throughout the building; therefore, it is critical to maintain sufficient water temperatures at different locations of the building. For the most part water loops (e.g. hot water loops) are the primary source of maintaining desired temperature in the building.
Typically, in residential buildings and single-family homes, the hot water loop is as simple as a single pipe that loops water through every radiator in selected parts of a home. In such a system, flow to the individual radiators is not controlled. Whereas in larger and more complex systems, typically found in larger commercial and industrial buildings, a main pipe circulates water uninterrupted around selected parts of such buildings, wherein individual radiators tap off a small portion of the flow in the main pipe. In these systems, individual radiators can be modulated. In addition to modulating the radiators, larger and more complex systems control various conditions of the water entering the main pipe, such as the temperature and the flow of the water entering the main pipe.
Specifically, in controlling temperature of water entering the main pipe of a hot water loop, often such is a matter of controlling firing rate of hot water boilers preceding the main pipe. Such control becomes particularly complex when there are both condensing and non-condensing boilers in the hydronic heating system, especially considering that condensing boilers are known to be favored for warmer outdoor air temperatures and non-condensing boilers are known to be favored for cooler outdoor air temperatures. Needed is a simple manner of enabling systems, which does not trade sufficient operation of hydronic heating systems for simplicity.